Before I get into this project, I’d like to ask my RVing readers who have not yet bought Andy Baird’s Eureka to please do so now, then come back to this post. From recipes to tips for using a multimetre, this treasure trove of ideas for improving an RV is the best RV upgrade guide I’ve found. It’s written by someone who is a full-timer and an expert in electrical, electronic, and technical matters. I could not have done this project without his guidance. It didn’t go as smoothly as he would have thought, but I learned a lot during the project and I now feel I have the necessary know-how to do some more electrical upgrades to the rig. Thanks, Andy!
So, I added a 12V outlet to the rig. Two, actually. I wanted a couple at the head of the bed for plugging in the electric blanket and my iPod. There’s a 12V outlet in the media cabinet at the foot of the bed, but having to reach eight feet to plug something in is less than practical.
I started to look online for a 12V outlet and realised that most of them came wired to be plugged into an existing socket. So, I emailed Andy to ask if I could just hack off the plug in order to hard wire. Yup. And he helped me pick out a dual-socket model by Magnadyne
The high quality unit came with 3M dual lock tape AND screws with brackets as mounting options, plus a set of instructions
front of the unit
back of the unit (the yellow thing is a fuse)
Andy told me that the easiest way to add the outlet would be to tap into existing wire, such as that for a lamp. There just so happened to be one a few feet away from the bed, close enough for me to have plenty of wire to reach it.
light fixture on the ‘lounge’ (passenger) side of the rig)
To access the wiring, Andy, who has a very similar rig, told me to try lifting out the bottom of the cabinet.
step one: remove books
step two: use flat instrument like a chisel to pry up the bottom of the cabinet
This exposed two bundles of wires, one with black and yellow, the other white.
I then snipped the plug from the outlets
and drilled a hole into the side of the cabinet through which I fed the wires.
And this is where everything fell apart and I would, eventually, learn the very valuable lesson of ALWAYS using a multimetre to confirm the polarity of wiring before hooking up anything.
As it turns out, my super high quality rig HAS DUMB WIRING: in the study, white is positive and black is negative. I would learn that in the library, white is negative and black is positive!!!
Andy told me to get the multimetre out, confirm polarity and voltage, and change the fuse in the new outlet. Turns out my multimetre was ‘dead’. So, I went out to get a new battery for it and discovered a sale on multimetres at Walmart. New multimetre with more gizmos and a more intuitive layout: $5.99. Two-pack of 9V batteries for my old multimetre: $6.99. Guess what I picked. And it even matches my decor!
Using the multimetre, I was able to confirm that I needed to reverse the polarity (something that tickles the sci-fi fan in me). I then changed the fuse, rewired the outlet, and tested it out with the electric blanket. The result was a ‘grssssh’ sound (sizzle according to Andy), with a fluctuating voltage from the sockets. I tightened up the connection points with some electrical tape and tested the voltage again: a steady 14.4 volts. No luck with the USB ports, but not a huge disappointment.
the only thing I remember learning about electricity from my parents is to cover the marrettes with electrical tape
works!
A couple of marrettes and some electrical tape later the project was done. Now, I just need to mount the outlets in the loft. I’ll wait till I go to bed tonight to do that so that I can figure out the best position to do so while lying in the position in which I will be plugging things in.
Now that I know to use a multimetre and some of the things I should be looking out for, I look forward to adding an extra outlet in the study so as to be able to plug the electric blanket in there for those chilly movie-watching nights.
Thanks again for your help, Andy!